News and Announcements Archive

Wayne Law Student Helping in the Fight Against Domestic Violence

DETROIT (Oct. 3, 2007) – October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and first-year evening Wayne State University Law School student Jennifer Pollock-Mason is fighting back in a special way.

As a survivor of both domestic violence and sexual assault as a teenager, Pollock-Mason is involved in empowering young people through her personal story, as a crisis intervention counselor and a member of HAVEN’s Speaker's Bureau. HAVEN is Oakland County's Center for the prevention and treatment of domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse.

“One in three women in Michigan has suffered from domestic violence or sexual assault in her lifetime,” said Pollock-Mason. “There are more than 48,000 reported cases of domestic violence in Michigan each year. Countless others go unreported. My goal is to raise awareness and, hopefully, make it easier for others to get out of abusive environments.”

Pollock-Mason, who aspires to be a judge after obtaining her juris doctorate from Wayne Law, is a happily married mother of two, a program manager at General Motors and a two-time Ironman triathlete. She graduated from the Wayne State University School of Business Administration and hopes to be done with the law program in five years, attending part-time.

She resolves to make a difference in the lives of those affected by domestic violence and sexual assault and who may have their self-identity negatively affected by harmful standards that are perpetrated by the media. She has a passion for helping young people see their true self-worth and often sees pieces of herself in the impressionable eyes of those she helps.

In honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, HAVEN and local author Lisa Dunlap, along with Campbell-Ewald, Metro Detroit Saturn Dealers and OnStar, created an artistic 2008 calendar titled "We Shall Be Heard." It features 17 survivors of domestic violence and/or sexual abuse, and Jennifer is featured as Miss August.

The calendar was designed in order to offer a voice to those who have suffered in silence, bring awareness to the prevalence of violence in our community, and to encourage people to seek help when it is needed. Pollack-Mason was recently interviewed by the Detroit Free Press in the Law Library, and will be featured in the paper for a related story on Sunday, Oct. 21, 2007.

Wayne State University Law School has served Michigan and beyond since its inception as Detroit City Law School in 1927. Located in Detroit’s re-energized historic cultural center, the Law School remains committed to student success and features modern lecture and court facilities, multi-media classrooms, a 250-seat auditorium, and the Arthur Neef Law Library, which houses one of the nation's 30 largest legal collections. Taught by an internationally recognized faculty, Wayne State Law School students experience a high-quality legal education via a growing array of hands-on curricular offerings, five live-client clinics, and access to well over 100 internships with local and non-profit entities each year. Its 11,000 living alumni, who work in every state of the nation and more than a dozen foreign countries, include leading members of the local, national and international legal communities. For more information, visit www.law.wayne.edu.

Advocating for justice, serving the community, revitalizing Detroit and Michigan